Laboring for the Kingdom

Reprinted from Tandem Vincitur, January 1995.

Jesus gave this command in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV); “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

It is easy to remember the promise of the Lord to provide us with rest. We long for it. In fact, we long for every promise that gives us relief from the pressures of life. We tend to forget His admonitions for spiritual discipline. There are three such requirements listed, for us to find this rest:
• The first requirement to “take My yoke upon you:” obedience to Christ’s commands. In John 14:15, Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commands.
• The second is to “learn from Me.” Psalms 1:2 says that our delight is to be in the Law of the Lord and on His Law we are to meditate day and night.
• The third point is a difficult point for many: “My yoke is easy and My burden light.” Many of us find refuge in the fact that we are saved by grace. Any mention of works tends to be considered “legalistic.” Well, God makes it clear that we are saved by grace, but He reminds us that we have a mission to accomplish. Ephesians 2:8-9, is the great “saved by grace, not by works” verse. The very next verse reminds us that we were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Jesus said that we will be known by our fruit (Mat 7:16). Clearly, our works do not save us, but our obedience is evidence of our salvation (1Jo 2:3, Jam 2:18-19). Therefore, produce fruit in keeping with our repentance (Joh 3:8). And remember, God has a mission for your life to accomplish – that is why He made you and that is why He saved you.

Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations (Mat 28:19). He did not limit this to sending out and supporting foreign missionaries, though that is important. He commanded us to do His work. His work was and is to glorify the Father (Joh 14:13); He does the will of the Father (Joh 4:34, 5:19,30, 9:4, 10:37, 12:49).

When we deny God, we are not doing the Father’s will. When we neglect to confront the paganism in our culture, we are denying Him. When we are mum on evolution, have we not denied Christ, who is the Creator? When we avoid talking about abortion, have we not denied the author of Life? What about pornography? Did not Jesus say that if anyone causes the smallest one to stumble, it would be better for them to tie a millstone around their neck and be thrown into the sea? (Mat 18:6). The same argument could be made for education reform. Similarly, does not DARE elevate the power of man’s will above the power of God, which is able to set man free from sin (Rom 8:2).

Jesus told us we are unable to be “good” (Mat 19:17). Maybe that explains why there is less than a 1 percent difference with children who complete the DARE program than those who don’t. Maybe that is why sex education is such an absolute failure, resulting in wasted, broken souls. If we teach kids that they can be good without God, have we not denied God and made Him out to be a liar?

This whole idea of “discipling the nations” has to do with getting out to the people and ministering God’s word. Our mission field is our neighbors, friends, business acquaintances, teachers, students, churches, politicians, bureaucrats. Jesus said that if we are ashamed of Him, or deny Him, He will deny us to the Father (Mat 10:33, Mar 8:38). Those who do His will are His brothers and sisters (Mat 12:50).

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…” “Those who hope in the Lord (obedient to His will), will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles…” (Isa 40:31). If we expect to find His rest, we must first be doing His will. He certainly isn’t going to give us rest from the stress of watching television, or the pressure of avoiding confrontation when the topics of the kingdom come up.

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all battlefields besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.” – Martin Luther